Originally Posted by magerette
I'm so tired of marketing hype, marketing slang, marketing priorities and general marketing BS that it tends to have the opposite effect on me. (Jaded is the word I'm looking for here.) I can't even read through a whole press release from any AAA title company without wanting to turn off my computer and learn to cross-stitch.

Those were very atmospheric, themadhatter--professional quality. Thanks for the hard work.

Wow…thanks, magerette, I appreciate that.
Of course, I can hardly take any credit. The developers of Bioshock certainly didn't skimp when it came to loading the game with eye-candy, thus making it a veritable hoard for screenshotters with the ToggleHUD/Fly command and a decent computer at their disposal.

So, speaking of eye-candy, here's some of the best I could come up with from Deus Ex (same as last time, png format, roughly 400kb each, some post-snap color correction work done in Photoshop to amend gamma discrepancies, uploaded to MediaFire)…http://www.mediafire.com/?jzjdysnevwy
…I haven't played the game since it was first released and was almost overwhelmed by the sheer gameplay options presented. To be quite frank, I'm entirely disappointed with Bioshock now. Having finished a marathon run of each (that is, playing as quickly as I could, exploring each area thoroughly and never cheating/exploiting the game mechanics) I finished Bioshock in a matter of four or five hours, whereas Deus Ex took almost eleven! Sure, the story is a little far-fetched, as any fan of the game must admit, with all the conspiracies of the world bundled into one little package, yet it's compelling just the same…
For the sake of brevity I'll stop spewing praise for a title which I'd all but forgotten and move on with snapping pictures from another. Next up is Freelancer.

No problem, asbjoern, if nothing else it gives me an excuse to play some games.

Now, for some Freelancer screenshots. Same routine as before, save that you'll have more to pick and choose from (66 in this batch)…http://www.mediafire.com/?cxsjxy9ktxt
…I do, however, have just one little inquiry to make: Why is this title in the RPGWatch games database? Is it a staff favorite? Something that was voted on? I'm curious as, having just completed my marathon play-session, I didn't find a single element of the gameplay which might be described as "rpg'ish" or the like. In truth, it's little more than your average space/fighter-sim, much like DarkStar One, Tarr Chronicles or Freespace. No choices and consequences, no skills, no character customization or growth…nothing.
Just my observation. Enjoy, mates.

It's a carry-over from RPGDot. Again, there was much discussion (and much reader interest) and it was decided at the time to cover it. Looking back, it's not RPG-y at all but we did have a decent community of Dotters playing it and we're always flexible on coverage.

Thanks for explaining, Dhruin. As I said, I was just curious…and yeah, I have to agree with Jabberwocky, it's a great game for what it is (although there are some annoying aspects, namely the "you can still get hit while docking, although you're unable to control your ship during said time" procedure…I must have died ten times or more for that very same reason).
Oh, and thanks for finding something you liked, Asbjoern. I was a little dubious about some of the pics, which is why I supplied so many.

On a sidenote, someone else will have to play through Diablo if you guys want any screenies. I attempted it, honestly, but just couldn't find the motivation. Between the monotonous clickety-click-click gameplay that never seemed to have any result (I mean, how many times do I have to click a skeleton before it dies and what was wrong with my first click?), the fixed resolution that looked atrocious on my screen (and I have an LCD which is quite scalable) and the sheer lack of any "nostalgia" I was counting on to get me through, I just couldn't manage to make it past level three of the labyrinth. Sorry, gents.
Next up, a game I'm certain I should be able to play: Gothic 2.

On a sidenote, someone else will have to play through Diablo if you guys want any screenies. I attempted it, honestly, but just couldn't find the motivation. Between the monotonous clickety-click-click gameplay that never seemed to have any result (I mean, how many times do I have to click a skeleton before it dies and what was wrong with my first click?), the fixed resolution that looked atrocious on my screen (and I have an LCD which is quite scalable) and the sheer lack of any "nostalgia" I was counting on to get me through, I just couldn't manage to make it past level three of the labyrinth. Sorry, gents.
…

Can't blame you at all there--I loaded it up back when Iwas getting rid of my Win98 computer for nostalgia and it was unplayable for me--a strange mix of too easy and too hard and as you say terrible grainy graphics that hurt your eyeballs--and I was very fond of the game back in the day. Sometimes you just can't go back. I don't think screens from Diablo will be greatly missed, except maybe as artifacts of a bygone era.

Sometimes you just can't go back. I don't think screens from Diablo will be greatly missed, except maybe as artifacts of a bygone era.

You're probably right. I doubt anyone new to gaming is likely to harbor a desire to play the game, while most of us "veterans" have likely done so already…that is, if we were ever even interested. Still, I had to try.

Now, after a considerable delay, I'm back with some more screenshots. This time it's a selection of seventy-one from which to choose, taken from Dungeon Siege 2 with Fraps, some minor gamma/color correction in Photoshop, png file-format and, as usual, uploaded to MediaFire…http://www.mediafire.com/?2cxupb3h64j
…I really don't know what I'll be snapping from next. If anyone can lend a hand with running Gothic 2 on Vista I'd appreciate you dropping a reply in my thread on such (here), as until then it's off my "to take pictures from" list. I've also had to remove Arx Fatalis (to my dismay, being one of my all-time favorite games), which absolutely refuses to operate properly on a 64-bit OS, and Dungeon Siege, which is not supported on Vista (x86 or x64). I presently have Hellgate: London, Kult: Heretic Kingdoms, Space Hack and Overlord on-hand. I suppose it'll have to be one of them.
Until then, enjoy and best of luck…

I just has a blast replaying System Shock 2 and - surprise - I took some screenshots.

--

Originally Posted by magerette
I'm so tired of marketing hype, marketing slang, marketing priorities and general marketing BS that it tends to have the opposite effect on me. (Jaded is the word I'm looking for here.) I can't even read through a whole press release from any AAA title company without wanting to turn off my computer and learn to cross-stitch.

Okay, next batch of screenshots are finished. Taken from Overlord at the highest possible settings, color-correction on only one image in Photoshop, median size of roughly 500kb (my apologies about that, but the palette for Overlord is quite large and the game uses a high-saturation technique for a cartoony-look ala Fable), png file-format and MediaFire upload. This time you hae eighty-one images from which to choose…http://www.mediafire.com/?lillzjy1ymd
…just on a little aside here, this is the first time I've ever completed the game. To be honest, I can't say that I really care for it. The seemingly-mandatory "twist" ending rather ruined the entire game, in my opinion, while the childish approach to "evil" was somewhat overdone. Still, the visual style is engaging, the voice actors (at least for the minions) did a phenomenal job and the game does lead with a unique premise.
Hellgate: London is up next.